Dreams play a powerful role in the sacred biographies of Indo-Tibetan Buddhism: they foretell the births of religious figures, describe their accomplishments, and reveal esoteric teachings. In this fascinating study of the Buddhist dream experience, Dr. Serinity Young explores the complex functions of dreams in the sacred biographies of the Buddha and other central Buddhist figures, and reveals the ever-changing nature of dreams in Buddhist thought and practice.

Dreaming in the Lotus, Serinity Young, 320 pages, $18.95

Serinity Young has done fieldwork in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Russia, and Tibet and is currently a professor at Southern Methodist University. She was editor-in-chief of the Encyclopedia of Women and World Religion, she edited An Anthology of Sacred Texts By and About Women, and she has published several essays in scholarly journals and collections